GAWU Combat - September/October 2012

Issue#:5 Volume#: 33

Combat Voice of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU)

September/October, 2012

Second sugar crop progressing satisfactorily- weekly sugar production highest in many years

- Wage/Salary agreement inked - improvement in cane-cutting incentives ment of workers’ pay.

On October 22, 2012, the two parties concluded this year’s negotiations with respect to wage/salary and improvement of certain benefits. Piecerated workers’ rates-of-pay are to increase by five (5) per cent and time-rated workers’ pay by a one (1) per cent. The increases are to be retroactive to January 01, 2012.

Representatives from the seven (7) grinding estates and officials of the Union meeting with officials of Guysuco at negotiations

The Guyana Sugar Corporation Inc (Guysuco) is progressing towards the attainment of its latest revised target of 241,000 tonnes of sugar this year (2012).

During the weeks of September and October, the seven (7) grinding estates recorded an average weekly production of 9,039 tonnes of sugar, which is a remarkable production level by any standard, and a feat that has not been achieved in many past months. From October 27, 2012 to the conclusion of the crop – expectedly by the third week of December, 2012 – the industry is required to produce 64,649 tonnes of sugar if the year’s target of 241,000 tonnes is to be attained, taking into account that the industry produced 71,146 tonnes during the first crop, and the current crop’s production stands at 105,202 tonnes as at October 26, 2012. Should the industry produce 241,000 COMBAT: September/October, 2012

tonnes of sugar this year, its production would have been the highest since year 2008. In the years 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011 the industry’s production figures were 226,267 tonnes, 233,733 tonnes, 220,818 tonnes and 236,506 tonnes respectively.

A production of 241,000 tonnes of sugar must be followed, in ensuring years, by higher levels of production. Therefore, while stakeholders of the industry may wish to hail the industry’s current performance, if in the near future years the yearly production fails to surpass 300,000 tonnes of sugar, the industry’s future will remain uncertain.

As the industry seeks to consolidate its production, the Corporation and the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), in ensuring that a favourable industrial climate is maintained, have reached an agreement regarding improve-

Additionally, workers will benefit from improvements in the issuance of the following personal protective equipment (PPE):- an additional pair of long boots for chargehands of the mill dock, an additional water bag for “cut and join” men, the provision of long boots and gloves for rodent control workers, one (1) additional file per year for weeders; “Drawdown hands” and planters are to be provided with additional cutlasses and files after ten (10) weeks of active harvesting, and a sewing allowance of G$1,200 per year for charwomen. The new benefits have been implemented across the industry, while retroactive payments in the new rates-of-pay are to be paid expectedly in the latter part of December, 2012.

Cane cutters also enjoyed improvements in their rates of incentives for cutting and loading and cutting and stacking of canes as follows:Cut and Stack 15.15 tonnes 22.7 tonnes 25 tonnes 28 tonnes

Cut and Load 10 tonnes 15 tonnes 16.5 tonnes 18.48 tonnes

% Incentive 31.8 40.9 60 69

Continued on page eight (8) Page One

A short history of sugar in Guyana year (1967) was 343,922 tons. This compares well with the 1950 figures of 195,652 tons, and the 1975 figure of 300,350 tons.

In 1973, the main ownership of the sugar industry was in the hands of two (2) London-based companies Jessels Securities, which owned two (2) factories and accounted for about fifteen (15) per cent of the total sugar production; five (5) per cent was produced by an independent Guyanese factory owned by the Vieiras ,and eighty (80) per cent by Booker McConnel.

Two (2) years later, the Demerara

Guyana’s sugar industry was founded in 1658, before the settlement of the provinces of Demerara and Berbice, when, under the rule of the Dutch West India Company, four plantations were established on the Pomeroon River in Essequibo. The provinces of Demerara and Berbice were settled later.

The early sugar plantations progressed slowly. Times were unsettled. Portugal, Holland, France, Spain and Britain were all fighting for colonies in the West, and countries and colonies changed hands frequently, so that there was a continuous movement of settlers looking for some place to settle.

Estates were often attacked by privateers, who would sail up the river and hold the estates to ransom. Thus, new settlements were continued to the river banks, about 30.5 miles from the coasts, partly for fear of the pirates, and also because of the high cost of empoldering and draining the fertile but low coastlands, a cost which the early settlers were not in a position to bear.

By 1759, there were 120 plantations along the Demerara River, and 200 on the East Bank of Essequibo.

The main crop was sugar, but there were smaller areas under coffee and ground crops. However, the inland plantations became increasingly unproductive, owing to years of continious cropping with little or no attempt COMBAT: September/October, 2012

to maintain the fertility of the soil.

The river soils began to be worked out, and, as labour increased, the river estates were gradually abandoned, and the planters wrestled the coast from the sea and swamps, and settled there. At the close of the 18th century, there were some 380 separate estates from Corentyne to Pomeroon.

In 1841, Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo were finally ceded to the British, and, under their rule,the sugar industry progressed, so that ten (10) years later, the colonies produced some 12,214 tons of sugar.

The maximum production under the Dutch was 4,152 tons in 1778. By the beginning of the 19th century, there were nearly 400 sugar plantations in Guyana.

In the drive for increased efficiency, the sugar companies vigorously pursued modernisation, research, and new techniques. By 1967, there were eighteen (18) estates: Albion, Port Mourant, Blairmont, Providence, Diamond, Enmore, Lusignan, Houston, LBI, Ogle, Leonora, Rose Hall, Lochaber, Skeldon, Uitvlugt, Versailles and Wales, serving eleven (11) factories, nine (9) of which were owned and/or managed by Booker McConnel Limited. The other two (2) were managed by the Demerara Company. Total acerage under cane cultivation in 1967, including fallow lands, was 113,474 acres, while sugar production for that

Company estates were nationalised, becoming DEMSUCO. In a decisive move along the road towards owning and controlling all the resources of the nation, the Guyana Government acquired the Booker Sugar Estates in Guyana in May, 1976.

To these were added the two (2) nationalised Demerara Sugar Company estates to form, in amalgamation, the Guyana Sugar Corporation - Guysuco - comprising the estates of Skeldon, Albion, Rose Hall, Blairmont, Enmore, LBI, Wales and Uitvlugt.

Cde Keith Crawford passes on age of fifty-seven (57). He left to mourn his wife and eight (8) children, his many friends, and hundreds of sugar workers who worked along with him for years at the Guysuco’s Skeldon Estate.

Crawford, who had been a member of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), was known to be upright in promoting the interests of his fellow workers. He is known to have been firm in his representation to Management but would not be inflexible when he discovered his arguments and facts were not sound as Management’s rebuttal to his representation would prove at times.

Cde Crawford, at the Union’s 20th Congress which was held on August 25, 27 and 28, 2012, was elected a member of the OrComrade Keith Emanuel Crawford, former shop steward from Skeldon ganisation’s General Council – the Estate, whose short biography was Union’s second highest forum. He carried in the March/April, 2011 was looking forward to serve on this edition of Combat, suddenly passed important body of the Union. away on September 10, 2012 at the Cde Crawford making a presentation at the Union’s 20th Congress

Page Two

GAWU observes WFTU-sponsored International Action Day

which persists is today aggravated and is a constant threat to countries’ stability and world security. The denial of the social rights to massive numbers of the planet’s citizens cannot be swept aside, or continue to go unaddressed or receive scant attention. It is time for action, positive and urgent action.

Priority attention is required in the areas of food, water, health, education and housing. Facts and figures FITUG’s President Carvil Duncan presenting to President Donald Ramotar the Statement of Solidar- provided by the WFTU ity and Support on October 03, 2012. Also in the picture are other Executives and Members of FITUG are startling, heartwrenching but revealUnions ing.

The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), as an affiliate of the World Federation of Consider a few:Trade Unions (WFTU), on October 03, 2012, observed Food the WFTU-sponsored International Action Day, which 1. Since 2007, food prices reached their highest of was held under the theme “Food, Clean Water, Books, the last 30 years, and today it is climbing higher Medicine and Housing is a right for all workers and 2. According to the World Bank, 50 million people peoples”. were made poor due to high food prices In observing the day, GAWU, through the Federation 3. It is estimated that more than 850 million people of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG), preare undernourished or starving, because their insented a Statement of Solidarity and Support to Head come prevents them from obtaining proper susof State, His Excellency, President Donald Ramotar. tenance The statement read as follows:4. Meanwhile, monopolies and multinational groups “October 03 is designated “International Action Day” of the food industry rake in their super-profits. by the Presidential Council of the World Federation Nestle, in 2009, received profits of 7 billion euros. of Trade Unions (WFTU), to which the Guyana AgriIn 2011, Cargill announced profits of 3.3 billion cultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), along euro. These are but two of several such compawith 209 other unions of 120 countries, is an affiliate. nies This year’s International Action Day is taking place on the slogan of the WFTU: “Food, Clean Water, Books, Water Medicine and Housing is a right for all workers and The latest report of the World Health Organisation peoples.”

(WHO) and UNICEF, entitled “Report of Progress and International Action Day seeks to highlight and foSanitation and Drinking Water 2010”, informs us that cus attention to the serious and grave conditions to 884 million people have no access to safe, clean wawhich billions of humanity, especially in the developter; 39 per cent of the global population, mainly in ing world, must face up and exist in our day. Teeming Africa and Asia, have no access to basic sanitation famillions of citizens of our planet are poverty-stricken, cilities; and 1.5 million children, 5 years and less, die exist with acute deprivation of even the most basic each year due to lack of access to safe water. necessities, and millions succumb yearly in such cirYet, privatization of water goes on, stemming from cumstances. which companies like ‘Suez’ and ‘Veolia’ make billions Instead of declining, the statistics indicate that the in profits situation is becoming horrifyingly worse. The systemic crisis that has gripped the “developed” world since Education 2008 has pushed untold millions across the world In developing countries, one of every eight children into the ranks of the poor and powerless. With no end does not receive even preliminary education. Illiterin sight to the global crisis that has beset capitalism, acy in Africa, for instance, is put at 23 per cent for those ranks will certainly be further swollen. boys and 32 per cent for girls. In Southern Asia, it is A few years ago, the world was shocked to learn 16 per cent for boys and 26 per cent for girls. In some that some 40 per cent of humankind was forced to individual countries, the percentage could even reach live on two dollars ($2) a day or less. That nightmare COMBAT: September/October, 2012

around 70 per cent.

Health It is estimated that one-third of the world’s population has no regular access to medicines. Many find it unaffordable; many out of poverty, suffer and die from preventable and treatable diseases. Interestingly, it should be noted that the 12 biggest pharmaceutical companies recorded profits of 78 billion dollars.

Against the backdrop of such dire realities, one must raise anew the question of the plunder of developing countries’ natural resources by transnationals. The exploitation of the wealth of the ‘Third World’ often does not benefit, in any substantial way, the people.

Little goes towards addressing their misery, but most, end up in mega profits for the transnational companies.

Professor Joseph Stiglitz, formerly of the World Bank, advised that, where necessary, developing countries should renegotiate agreements with transnationals, so that a country’s resources will first and foremost benefit its people, especially since resources are not renewable. In view of the vast and diverse demands of peoples in the developing world, this is sound advice, and there are precedents for such, too.

International Action Day comes at a juncture when the militancy of the working people in Europe has not simmered. Their anger against more austerity is growing, and actions in Spain, Portugal, Greece and France have taken on a new dimension. Once again, we see the clear linkages between the working peoples from the developed and developing world. The common oppressors and exploiters are found in the pervasive capitalist system We recognise in Guyana the advances made in the social sectors, on which International Action Day focuses. We also recognise that much work lies ahead.

Complacency today is not an option. One lesson of capitalist development, as we see in Europe, is how easily and readily gains made over many years and after many struggles could be snatched away.

GAWU is sympathetic to the view - as reiterated by the WFTU - that a country’s resources should go primarily to the people’s well-being and the country’s development thrust. We need to ensure this is so.

We welcome this initiative by the WFTU. We look forward to the sustained efforts by the international community, international organisations and, indeed, national leaders to address the myriad of problems identified, and urge that collective and sustained efforts be made to seek a change of the system that places profits before people.”

This year’s International Action Day was observed in 32 countries across the globe by various WFTU affiliates. In many countries, demonstrations were held to highlight and bring awareness to the various issues identified by the WFTU. International Action Day is observed annually in October, and focuses on issues which are affecting mainly the working-class and other poorer sections of society.

Page Three

INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL

US dumps Syrian National Council (SNC), focuses exclusively on arming “Al Qaeda in Syria” US dumps Syrian proxy political front in latest move to accelerate long-stalled regime change

on terrorism?”

In the report, it specifically stated: “To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has co-operated with Saudi Arabia’s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran.

The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria.

A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda.”

Hersh’s report would continue by stating: “the Saudi government, with Washington’s approval, would provide funds and logistical aid to weaken the government of President Will the West’s new “resistance front” in Syria officially include Libyan Mahdi al-Harati of the US State Department, United NaBashir Assad of Syria. The Israelis believe that tions, and the UK Home Office-listed terrorist organization the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG)? Here he is addressing putting such pressure on the Assad governfellow terrorists in Syria. Harati is now commanding a Libyan brigade operating inside of Syria, attempting to destroy the Syrian ment will make it more conciliatory and open government and subjugate the Syrian population. Traditionally, this is known as “foreign invasion,” not rebellion. to negotiations.”

By Tony Cartalucci considered the “visible leader” of the opposiThe link between extremist groups and Saudi November 01, 2012 tion. funding was also mentioned in the report, and re“There has to be a representation of those flects evidence regarding the origin and backers The Washington Post, in its recent article, “U.S. who are on the front lines, fighting and dyof similar extremists who flooded Iraq during the looks to build alternative Syrian opposition leadering today to obtain their freedom,” she said US occupation, sowing sectarian strife and killing ship,” claims: during an unrelated visit to the Balkan states.

Western troops alike: The Obama administration has spent the “. . . and we also need an opposition that will past several months in secret diplomatic nebe on record strongly resisting the efforts by “…[Saudi Arabia’s] Bandar and other Saudis gotiations aimed at building a new Syrian extremists to hijack the Syrian revolution.” have assured the White House that they ‘will opposition leadership structure that it hopes It is clear that both the West’s political proxies keep a very close eye on the religious fundacan win the support of minority groups still and its armed militant proxies have been compromentalists.’ Their message to us was ‘We’ve backing President Bashar al-Assad. mised, and the narrative that tentatively worked created this movement, and we can control against Libya is now unravelling and failing against it.’ It’s not that we don’t want the Salafis to The strategy, to be unveiled at a Syrian opposi- Syria. While the US attempts to portray this latest throw bombs, it’s who they throw them at— tion meeting next week in Qatar, amounts to a move as an attempt to “prevent extremist eleHezbollah, Moqtada al-Sadr, Iran, and at the last-ditch effort to prevent extremists from gaining ments from gaining the upper hand within the opSyrians, if they continue to work with Hezthe upper hand within the opposition, and to stop position,” it must be remembered that, as early as bollah and Iran.” -The Redirection, Seymour the Syrian crisis from boiling over into the greater 2007, US officials had admitted that efforts to overHersh (2007) Middle East. throw the governments of Syria and Iran would It was exposed in that, indeed, the very networks The Post also indicates that de facto “administra- include primarily US, Israeli, and Saudi armed ex- used by Al Qaeda to flood Iraq with foreign fighttive zones” are being set up along the Turkish-Syri- tremists drawn from across the Arab World and ers is now being used by the United States, NATO an border with “nonlethal” assistance provided by sent into Syria to create the very sectarian blood- and the Persian Gulf States of Saudi Arabia and Qathe United States, France and “other like-minded bath now unfolding. Rhetoric of “freedom” and tar to violently overthrow Syria. The narrative that governments.” The so-called “Syrian National “democracy” serve merely as cover within which recent US efforts aim at heading off “extremists” Council” is being discarded, as it is wholly seen as foreign military aggression is couched. from “hijacking” the armed violence in Syria is exillegitimate by both Syrians and the world at large.

This was first exposed by Pulitzer Prize-winning posed as a blatant lie. Extremists have constituted The Washington Post would also quote Secretary journalist Seymour Hersh in his 2007 New Yorker the so-called “opposition” from the very beginClinton: report titled, “The Redirection: Is the Administra- ning, by designing, with explicit US, NATO, Saudi The SNC, Clinton said, should no longer be tion’s new policy benefiting our enemies in the war and Qatari funding, weapons,and support.

COMBAT: September/October, 2012

Page Four

USAID spying in Latin America INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL | INTERNATIONAL

The ejection of USAID from Russia was a long-awaited and welcome development. Moscow has repeatedly warned its US partners - via an array of channels of communication - that the tendency of USAID to interfere with Russia’s domestic affairs was unacceptable, and particularly that the radicalism of its pet NGOs in the Caucasus would not be tolerated.

When, on October 1, the decision made by the Russian leadership took effect, the Moscow-based USAID staff which had stubbornly ignoring the signals had to pack and relocate to other countries facing allegations of authoritarian rule…

In Latin America, USAID has long earned a reputation as an organization whose offices are, in fact, intelligence centres scheming to undermine legitimate governments in a number of the continent’s countries. The truth that USAID hosts CIA and US Defense Intelligence Agency operatives is not deeply hidden, as those seem to have played a role in every Latin American coup, providing financial, technical, and ideological support to respective opposition elements. USAID also typically seeks engagement with the local armed forces and law-enforcement agencies, recruiting within them agents ready to lend a hand to the opposition when the opportunity arises.

To varying extents, all of the Latin American populist leaders felt the USAID pressure. No doubt, Venezuela’s H. Chavez is the number one target on the USAID COMBAT: September/October, 2012

enemies list.

Support for the regime’s opponents in the country shrank considerably since the massive 2002-2004 protests, as the nation saw the government refocus on socioeconomic issues, health care, housing construction, and youth policies. The opposition had to start relying more on campaigns in the media, around 80% of which are run by the anti-Chavez camp. Panic-provoking rumours about imminent food supply disruptions, overstated reports about the crime level in Venezuela (where, actually, there is less crime than in most countries friendly to the US), and allegations of government incompetence in response to technological disasters, which became suspiciously frequent as the elections drew closer, are bestowed on the audiences as a part of the subversive scenario involving a network of Venezuelan NGOs. In some cases, the membership of the latter can be limited to 3-4 people, but coupled to strong media support, the opposition can prove to be an ominous force. ProChavez commentators are worried that USAID agents will contest the outcome of the vote and, synchronously, paramilitary groups will plunge Venezuelan cities into chaos to give the US a pretext for a military intervention.

USAID is known to have contributed to the recent failed coup in Ecuador, during which President R. Correa narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. Elite police forces, heavily sponsored by the US and the media, which made use of the liberal free speech legislation to smear Correa were the key actors in the outbreak. Subsequently, it took Correa serious efforts to get a revised media code contrary to the USAID-lobbied resistance approved in the Parliament.

Several bids to displace the govern-

ment of Evo Morales clearly employed the USAID operative potential in Bolivia.

According to journalist and author Eva Golinger, USAID poured at least $85M into destabilizing the regime in the country. Initially, the US hoped to achieve the desired result by entraining the separatists from the predominantly white Santa Cruz district. When the plan collapsed, USAID switched to courting the Indian communities with which the ecologyoriented NGOs started to get in touch a few years before. Disorienting accounts were fed to the Indians that the construction of an expressway across their region would leave the communities landless, and the Indian protest marches, to the capital that followed ate away at the public standing of Morales. It transpired shortly that many of the marches, including those staged by the TIPNIS group, had been coordinated by the US embassy. The job was done by embassy official Eliseo Abelo, a USAID curator for the Bolivian indigenous population. His phone conversations with the march leaders were intercepted by the Bolivian counter-espionage agency, and made public so that he had to escape from the country, while the US diplomatic envoy to Bolivia complained about the phone tapping.

In June 2012, foreign ministers of the ALBA bloc countries passed a resolution on USAID. It read: “Citing foreign aid planning and coordination as a pretext, USAID openly meddles in sovereign countries’ domestic affairs, sponsoring NGOs and protest activities intended to destabilize legitimate governments which are unfavourable from Washington’s perspective.

Documents released from the US Department of State archives carry evidence that financial support had been provided to parties and groups oppositional to the governments of ALBA countries, a practice tantamount to undisguised and audacious interference on the US’ behalf.

In most ALBA countries, USAID operates via its extensive NGO networks, which it runs outside of the due legal framework, and also illicitly funds media and political groups. We are convinced that our countries have no need for external financial support to maintain the democracy established by Latin American and Caribbean nations, or for externally guided organizations which try to weaken or sideline our government institutions.”

The ministers called the ALBA leaderships to immediately deport USAID representatives, who threaten the sovereignty and political stability of the countries where they work. The resolu-

tion was signed by Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

Paul J. Bonicelli was confirmed by the US Senate as the USAID Assistant Administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean last May. Former USAID chief Mark Feuerstein gained such notoriety in Latin America as the brain behind the ousters of the legitimate leaders of Honduras and Paraguay that the continent’s politicians simply had to learn to avoid him. The USAID credibility is increasingly drying up, and it is unlikely that Bonicelli, a PhD and a conservative, will be able to reverse the tendency. His record includes heading various USAID divisions and promoting democracy in concert with the US National Security Council.

Bonicelli’s views are reflected in his papers in the Foreign Policy journal. To Bonicelli, Chavez is not a democrat, but a leader eager to get rid of all of his opponents. The new USAID boss holds that, apart from the drug threat, Chavez – having inspired populist followers in Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua – poses the biggest challenge to the US interests in Latin America. Bonicelli therefore urges the US to prop up the Venezuelan opposition in every way possible, providing material support and training so that it can maximally take part in elections and civilian activities.

Another paper by Bonicelli portrays Russia’s present-day evolution as grim regress and a slide towards neo-Tsarism.

Based on that perception, Bonicelli argues that the West should hold Russia and its leaders accountable in whatever concerns freedom and democracy – even if freedom in the country is important to just a handful of people – and cites the case of Poland, where the US used to stand by Lech Walesa.

Chances are slim that a reform of USAID would restore the agency’s credibility in Latin America. Sticking to a trimmed list of priorities, USAID axed a few minor programmes and shut down its offices in Chile, Argentine, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Panama, with Brazil next in line. USAID believes that the above countries are already in reasonable shape and no longer need assistance, so that the agency can throw its might against its main foes – the populists and Cuba – and do its best to have the politicians unfriendly to Washington removed across the Western Hemisphere. The stated USAID budget for Latin America is $750M, but estimates show that the secret part of the funding, which is leveraged by the CIA, may total twice the amount.

Page Five

FITUG’s 4th Conference slated for November 07, 2012 - President Ramotar to deliver Feature Address

ion bodies in Guyana, will hold its 4th Delegates Conference, on (Wednesday) November 07, 2012, under the theme “Workers Right to Secure Food and a Clean Environment” at the Regency Suites, Georgetown.

The Conference is the highest decisionmaking forum of the Federation, and is expected to attract eighty (80) delegates from FITUG’s affiliFLASHBACK: A section of the audience at the 3rd Conference of FITUG, held in July, 2010 ates – the Guyana The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Agricultural and Guyana (FITUG), one of the two umbrella trade un- General Workers Union (GAWU), the National As-

PAME denounces award of Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union Greece’s All Workers Militant Front (PAME) denounced the award of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union (EU). PAME, in a statement, noted as follows:“The various “independent” and “objective” international organizations, which purport that they stand above interests and class - organizations like the UN, the ILO and others - have proved, again and again, their real role as supporters to the one or the other imperialist groups.

“The Nobel peace prize being awarded to the Imperialist European Union is awarding the war that the European and international capital has declared against the achievements and the rights of millions of workers in Europe, the destruction of states and the butchering of whole people. The only peace they recognize, the “labour peace”, is the peace between the slave and his master because, obviously, the committee that awarded the Nobel Peace prize to the EU did not have all the necessary information, we remind them a few of the “achievements” of the EU: • The killing of thousands of workers every year for the profits of the monopolies 4,898 dead COMBAT: September/October, 2012

workers in the EU-27 (Eurostat 2011)

sociation of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), and the Clerical and Commercial Workers Union (CCWU).

The one-day Conference will review the work of the Federation since its last Conference in 2010.

Delegates will also be charged with setting goals and objectives for the organization until its next Conference in 2014. The Conference’s feature address will be delivered by His Excellency, President Donald Ramotar.

Delegates will also elect members of the General Council, and an Executive Committee which will preside over the Organisation’s work until its 5th Conference.

FITUG is the largest trade union umbrella body in Guyana. Its affiliates represent some 35,000 workers, many of whom are employed in strategic sectors of the economy.

GAWU participates in Medical Outreach

• Thousands of lay offs aiming at the reduction of the price of the labour force, which lead to extreme poverty and slow death.

25.4 million unemployed (Eurostat 8/2012) • The curb of democratic rights and anticommunism by calling workers’ strikes illegal, criminalizing the struggles of the peoples, banning communist and workers’ parties, the deprivation of civil rights of thousands of citizens, the banning of the red star and other workers’ symbols • The support of the embargo against Cuba, and of the Israeli occupation of Palestine • The wars in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Libya as only a few of the 23 imperialist interventions of the EU in 3 continents during the last decade, when at the same time they sharpen their teeth against Syria.”

A resident of the community being attended to by a doctor

The Ministry of Health, having arranged the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU), the Regional Democratic Council of Region #3, and Guysuco’s Wales Estate as associates, hosted a oneweek Medical Outreach for the public at the Wales Community Centre from October 17 to 23, 2012.

ages, paying attention to dental examinations, blood glucose, impaired vision, hypertension, HIV, etc.

The exercise was rewarding to the beneficiaries, who received medical service at their doorstep, so to speak. Some of the visitors to the clinic were referred to the West Demerara Regional Hospital for follow-up treatment.

There was an overwhelmingly large The Ministry of Health is considnumber of persons who visited the ering organizing other outreaches, makeshift clinic during the seven- especially in populated areas which day period. Doctors and aides at- are some distance from Governtended to the 2,494 persons of all ment-operated clinics and hospitals.

Page Six

GAWU elects Central Executive Committee Following the successful conclusion of the 20th Delegates’ Congress of the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) on August 28, 2012, the fifty-two (52) member General Council met for the first time on (Saturday) September 29, 2012, and elected unanimously the undermentioned persons to the Union’s Central Executive Committee:- Cdes Jankie Persaud, Honorary President; Komal Chand, President; Uranie Heeram, Vice President; Seepaul Narine, General Secretary; Mohamad Ahamad, Assistant General Secretary; Derek Thakur, Organising Secretary; Aslim Singh, International Affairs Secretary and Rooplall Persaud, Treasurer.

Cdes Michael Inderdatt, Walter Raghoo, Bevon Sinclair, Harvey Tambron, Abrahim Nagamootoo, Janice Leander-Fowler and Bickram Singh were also elected as committee members.

The Union’s General Council, which meets once every three (3) months, is the second highest forum of the Union after its Congress. It manages the affairs of the Union between Delegates’ Congresses. The Central Executive Committee meets once monthly, and it assists in managing the affairs of the Union.

GAWU/Noble House negotiations continuing Negotiators from the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Management of Noble House Seafoods Limited held two (2) meetings in October, 2012, to resolve the Union’s revised demand of five (5) per cent pay rise. The Union and the Company had agreed previously on improvements to meals allowance, leave allowance and bursary awards.

The Company has sought to implement a three (3) per cent wage increase for all its employees. The Company has contended that workers have the opportunity to secure an additional three (3) per cent increase through the attainment of the Company’s monthly production target. Its General Manager has insisted at the discussions that the Company is unable to pay more than three (3) per cent. He pointed out that its parent Company, Heiploeg Group, suffered a loss of seventysix million euros (€76M) last year (2011), and that it had to secure a loan of €157M on June 22, 2012 to be able to remain in business.

The Union, in support of its five (5) per cent increase, responded that the parent Company’s setback should not deny the workers a pay increase of five (5) per cent, which is about the rate of inflation. The Union has also noted that the local subsidiary has continued to perform remarkably well in terms of the quanta of fish and shrimp it has been processing.

Both the Union and the Company, at the conclusion of the last meeting, have decided to engage the workers, in separate discussions, with a view to having the parties meet thereafter, hopefully to resolve their differences.

Noble House Seafoods is one of the three (3) major fish and shrimp processing companies in Guyana. It employs approximately two hundred (200) persons, and its products are sold in Guyana and overseas.

COMBAT: September/October, 2012

GAWU/DTL negotiations commence The Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU) and the Management of the Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) met on October 17, 2012 to commence discussions on the Union’s memorandum of demands with respect to a fifteen (15) per cent rise in pay, to be retroactive to January 01, 2012, and an improvement in meals allowances, night premium and station allowances. The Union is also seeking a job evaluation exercise, to be conducted jointly by the Management and the Union, and an agreement on a Christmas Bonus for this year, to be awarded to all workers.

The Union drew to the Company’s notice that its rates of pay for its workers are below the statutory rates of sawmill workers. The Company agreed at the last meeting to update the rates in keeping with the law.

With effect from June, 2012, the Government revised the sectorial minimum wages for workers employed in petroleum filling stations, hotels, guest houses, discotheques, night clubs, liquor restaurants, grocery stores, hardware stores, drug stores, aerated water factories, sawmills, cinemas, and security guards, mechanical

transport employees, timber grant workers, and workers involved in the printing trade.

There is no minimum wage in Guyana, but there is a minimum wage for public sector employees and a statutory minimum wage for the aforementioned sectorial workers.

The Company and the Union are to meet again, on November 12, 2012, to view the new pay rates of the workers based on the statutory rate, and to continue the Union and Company negotiations based on the Union’s demand.

Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) is owned by the Prime Group, which is based in Singapore. The Company enjoys forest concessions from the state at Mabura Hill in Region 10 and Siparuni in Region 2. The Company’s workforce is based at Mabura, where the Company houses its workers and provides them with potable water and electricity. There, at Mabura, the Company operates a sawmill which produces from logs, construction material for export. It also exports logs.

On September 19 and 20, 2012, almost the entire workforce of Demerara Timbers Limited (DTL) Mabura Hill operations, which is some 160 miles from Georgetown in Region Ten (10), downed tools, protestWorkers picketing on September 19, 2012 ing the limited nine (9) hourper-day supply of electricity, the unsatisfactory state of the workers’ houses, and the poor quality of potable water being supplied. This action was supported by the Union.

The Company and the Union were invited to a meeting by the Commissioner of the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), to review and address the strike issues. The Chief Labour Officer (a.g.) also attended the meeting.

GFC exercised its role as supervising agency of all companies with concessions involving timber harvesting.

There were two (2) meetings held on September 20 and 21, 2012. It was agreed that the workers would resume work on under the following conditions:1. That the Union will call off the strike of its members as at 6.30am on (Friday) September 21, 2012; 2. That there shall be no victimization or harassment by either side; 3. That there shall be no break in service; 4. The company shall provide 19 hours’ electricity during the hours of 5.00pm to noon; 5. Within a period of three (3) weeks, the company shall restore electricity for a full 24-hour period per day.

The Guyana Water Inc (GWI) completed its examination of the water supply facilities on October 22, 2012, and recommended the following:1. Installation/construction of a filtration unit before the reservoir. This unit in which white sand can be used as the filter media can be very simple. The

filter will serve the purpose of retaining particles and organic matte,r thus reducing the turbidity and also preventing/reducing the possible formation of disinfection by-products (formed with the addition of chlorine in the presence of organic matter). It is a fairly simple solution, and is quite efficient in enhancing the quality of water in such remote areas.

It will be found that, after sometime, there will be a deposit of material on the sand. Depending on the build-up, this deposit will have to be scraped off the top of the filters. A period cannot be established for the cleansing of the deposit, since this depends on observation.

2. The method of dosing the chlorine solution to the reservoir is satisfactory; however, the proportions of calcium hypochlorite per barrel should be slightly altered. As is, the calcium hypochlorite is added once daily (1½ jars) to the 32-gallon barrel.

It is recommended that 2 jars (approximately 6kg) be thrown twice daily at a twelve (12)-hour interval. Also, the solution in the barrel needs to be constantly agitated. A motor coupled to a shaft with an impeller (propeller/pitched paddle type) and configured vertically is a simple way of achieving agitation (only shaft and impeller must be submersed).

Pump strikes can be maintained at 50 strokes.

3. The reservoir should be repaired and the warped panels replaced. This will minimize the wastage of energy and treated water, and also reduce the possibility of interruption of the water supply service.

4. The reservoir and overhead tank should be cleaned immediately, and thereon, be cleaned on an annual basis.

5. The mains should be flushed out every three (3) months. During “flush out”, the service should be restored once the water begins to run clearly at the “flush out” point.

6. Ensure that the source (YaYa Creek) is constantly monitored for activities along its banks, as this constitutes the first step in reducing contamination.

A number of the recommendations were satisfied.

Recommendation number two (2), is observed on a daily basis by a worker to ensure an adequate application of chlorine and hypochlorite.

As agreed 24-hour electrification was restored on October 10, 2012, while repairs are progressing on a number of houses in the township.

DTL workers strike and protest at Mabura Hill

Page Seven

Guyana sitting on a better economy - FITUG tells PPP/C on 20th Anniversary in Government The Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Guyana (FITUG) is pleased to be given the opportunity to provide some brief remarks on the occasion of the PPP/Civic’s 20th anniversary in government.

Today, as the party in government celebrates and reflects on the last twenty (20) years of governance, no one can objectively fail to recognise that our country is sitting on a far better economy than it did twenty (20) years ago. A fairly stable economy assists significantly in maintaining the political stability of the country.

In many countries, the global economic crisis has resulted in millions losing their homes, tens of millions of workers losing their jobs, severe cuts in education, in pensions, in wages, and in many other benefits. Having failed to lift their economies out of the crisis, the ruling elites and their economists are now resorting to the imposition of harsh and painful austerity measures which are demanded by institutions like the IMF, the WTO and the World Bank. The painful austerity measures - which are imposed for the sake of balancing The Federation remembers vividly that the poor budgets, payment of foreign debts and bailouts state of the economy over two (2) decades ago have caused and provoked large-scale protests and had resulted in some basic food items not being fights backed by not only the ordinary people, but obtainable, or were only obtained from contra- from the other strata of society, who once thought band trade at exorbitant prices. At that time, our that they were immune from crises. country was highly indebted, whereby as much as 94 dollars out of every 100 dollars collected in the It is true that we are largely unaffected by the form of revenue had to be channelled towards ser- economic tempest that is raging in many areas of vicing the country’s foreign debt and interest pay- the planet. But it is also true that we are not fully ments. immune. Our Government must therefore continue to be watchful, and must see the well-being Another important observation is that all the re- of the workers as important for the development gional and national elections which were conduct- and sustainability of the country. If the private seced since the PPP/C Government has been holding tor is the engine of growth, then the workers and the reigns have been characterized as being free, the working-people are the wheels which make fair and transparent. FITUG is very pleased that growth possible. Labour, therefore, must always “one man, one vote”, so important for the dem- be recognized. ocratic functioning of our country, is upheld. We look forward to, in future elections in Guyana, see- From the workers’ point of view, we can say there ing high confidence of the electorate across the have been significant changes over the last two (2) country in the work and operation of the Guyana decades. At this forum, FITUG wishes to recognise Elections Commission (GECOM). some significant and worker-friendly legislation

which were enacted in the early years of the PPP/ Civic Government, namely: the Trade Union Recognition Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Prevention of Discrimination Act, and the Termination of Employment and the Severance Pay Act. Our Federation hopes to approach the Government to have in our Statute Book other important pieces of labour-friendly legislation, especially since our market-oriented economy is becoming more pronounced. Incidentally, such type of economy needs to be revisited in the near future.

In conclusion, the main task now before the PPP/C Administration is to maintain momentum in advancing the transformation and modernisation of our country. It is clear that the Government is firmly committed to maintaining and enhancing the physical and institutional infrastructure that is required to create jobs, improve livelihoods, and generate wealth. Our democratic foundations must also be strengthened and expanded. And always, it is crucial to involve and rely on our people in our march towards greater social and economic progress.

Once again, allow me, on behalf of the Federation and the 35,000 workers which are represented by our affiliates, to extend our best wishes and congratulations to the PPP/Civic Administration on this important milestone in the party’s history and progress.

Second sugar crop progressing satisfactorily of cane production in any week shall be paid the percentage incentive from the first tonne. The newer percentage incentive is, however, retroactive from October 07, 2012.

an average increase in their pay rates by approximately 35 per cent with effect from July 01, 2011, following the conclusion of a joint GAWU/ Guysuco Job Evaluation exercise.

The Corporation has received the Union’s proposal for settling the award of Annual Production Incentive (API), which is awarded to qualified sugar workers based on the quantity of sugar produced in each year. The Union and the Corporation are expected to conclude negotiations on the matter some weeks before the end of the current crop. The parties will approve a formula which will determine the number of days’ pay Representatives from the various estate appending the agreement on October 22, 2012 The increase as incentive which each qualified worker will reContinued from page one of the time- ceive based on the quantity of sugar produced rated workers’ pay by a mere 1 per cent follows for the year.

A worker who attains any of the various levels COMBAT is a publication of the Guyana Agricultural & General Workers Union (GAWU) 59 High Street & Wights Lane, Kingston, Georgetown, Guyana, S.A. Tel: 592-227-2091/2; 225-5321 , 223-6523 Fax: 592-227-2093 Email: gawu@bbgy.com Website: www.gawu.net